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Why is the openness so important?
"We are giving end customers and integrators
a free choice of which products they want to
use and if they already have cameras in their
systems, they do not have to change them even
if they are analogue with an open platform
you can grow very smoothly from an existing
situation to a new environment. We can also
grow from one camera to more than 150,000
cameras without having to change anything in
the software."
Your open platform Security Center is your
major product, unifying video surveillance,
access control, licence plate recognition and
alarm systems.
"Security Center represents 90 per cent of our
sales at the moment. We are well known as
a CCTV solution provider but that market
is not growing at the same pace it once was.
Today, our biggest growth in terms of a single
function in the unified platform can be found
within access control. Look at our technology
partner Axis Communications, which has been
launching its first access control solution it
is already fully integrated with our Synergis
access control solution. We are ahead of the
market in terms of bringing new technologies
and new features to it". By far, our biggest
growth driver lies in both unification and the
openness and scalability of our Security Center
platform."
Talking about Axis, they are now targeting
smaller installations. Will you do that too?
"It will come as no surprise to your read-
ers that Genetec is primarily focused on the
enterprise class of end user. But what may
not be as well known is the fact that we
don't measure `enterprise class' in terms of
number of cameras only we believe even a
small site can have needs that can be defined
as `enterprise', or who require `enterprise-
grade' features. Whether that need be future
scalability, ability to handle several different
types of security needs in one system, or the
ability to unify several smaller sites into one
federated whole we feel that these needs are
not tied to camera or door counts. In terms
of our partners, Axis, Bosch and Sony all have
office and start working in Denmark and
Finland. What is your growth strategy?
"We grow organically. Normally we have a
regional sales manager, who goes into a country
and will start up discussion with primary
integrators to establish a first few projects. Once
we have a few references, we aim to increase the
number of integrators and eventually distribu-
tors to grow the business. Once we establish a
good run-rate business (versus project-driven
business), we start to grow our local team."
Canon has acquired Milestone.
What impacts will that have on the market?
"Milestone has a strong business at the lower
end of the market and we do not see them
very much in direct competition to our unified
enterprise solutions, so the direct impact on
Genetec is minimal. Nevertheless, we do feel
that what this acquisition represents a tight
lock-up between a camera manufacturer and a
formerly open platform very concerning as it
will severely limit the choice and flexibility of
customers who have chosen Milestone when it
was a more open offering. As a company that is
very much in favour of openness, Genetec sees
this acquisition as a net loss to the market."
What is your view on competition?
"Milestone is certainly a significant player in
the mid-tier CCTV market, and Nedap is one
of the biggest players within access control.
But we are not in the CCTV market, nor are
we in the access control market we are in the
integration part of the market. We bring an
open platform solution to the market, which
includes different technologies and is open to
integrate and unify other technologies into one
platform; we see this as a significant competi-
tive differentiator."
What drives the market for IP solutions?
"Today, unification and threat identification
are two key words. We bring CCTV, access
control, number plate recognition, intrusion
alarms, and other technologies like video
analytics together. Thanks to this we are able
to identify people, goods and threats much
earlier than before. Unification is about bring-
ing all these technologies into one single open
platform so operators or police forces can take
very quick and accurate decisions."
Genetec was founded in 1997, headquartered
in Montreal, Canada. Today the company has
620 employees globally. As a private company,
Genetec does not publicly publish its revenue
numbers, but states that its revenue grew by
over 30 per cent in the 2014 fiscal year.
Nick D'hoedt is based in Belgium.
"We arrived in Europe ten years ago and
opened an office in Paris. France has become
Genetec's biggest European market. After that
we started in Spain, Italy, Portugal and UK,
Benelux and then Scandinavia", says Nick
D'hoedt.
How much of your revenue comes from the
Americas, from the EMEA, and Asia? Where
do you put most effort?
"As a private company, Genetec does not
provide actual revenue information, however
the Americas and Western Europe are our
strongest revenue drivers. In fiscal 2014 we put
special emphasis on our core emerging markets
in APAC, Latin America, and Brazil."
Canada and the US are your biggest markets;
do you have a different strategy for EMEA
than for North America?
"In EMEA, Genetec works within a much
more fragmented market crossing many
different countries, jurisdictions and vendors.
We work with many vendors, distributors and
channel partners and via a vast distributor
network, Genetec's regional sales managers
work closely with certified integrators to pro-
mote and sell hardware and software solutions
across Europe and the Middle East. In North
America, we have built a one-tier channel
partner network, to offer the most stream-
lined network of integrators and consultants.
They interface with end-users to scope and
deploy our open-platform enterprise security
solutions."
In 2015 you will establish a Scandinavian
the
interview
The Canadian IP solution manufacturer Genetec is about to expand
its business in northern europe. detektor met up with Nick d'hoedt,
Genetec's Regional Sales Director for Scandinavia, Benelux and DACH
(Germany, Austria and Switzerland). He believes that unification and
cloud solutions will be the next big thing.
By Henrik Söderlund
Genetec's Northern European Sales Manager:
"Unified solutions and cloud security will dominate 2015"
Many end users are not in-
terested in keeping storage
in the office anymore
with all of the costs that entails. Secu-
rity in the cloud will become the big
story over the next few years together
with unification and early threat iden-
tification.
We are giving end custom-
ers and integrators a free
choice of which products
they want to use and if they already
have cameras in their systems, they do
not have to change them even if they
are analogue...